Have you
ever noticed the front grill of a truck driving
by? Many have decorative grills this is true, but if you look closely you may
see that behind the chrome is a hexagonal grid whose purpose is to
straighten the airflow being drawn into the engine's radiator.

In wind tunnels, stacks of thin
aluminum honeycomb cells are used to straighten the airflow for aerodynamic experiments.
The tightly packed cells have little air resistance, yet as turbulent air moves
through it is forced into a more laminar flow pattern. Less turbulent air creates
less noise, and exhausts further and more focused with the same
power.

This is the premise behind Nexus' BeamAir
series of hexagonal computer fan airflow straighteners. The small plastic
honeycomb devices attach to the back of any thickness of 120mm or
92/80mm fans, and helps guide the exhaust airflow. The plastic unit
Frostytech is looking at today is the 120mm version of the BeamAir, so it is
compatible with 120mm case fans only. The device may be used on PC case exhaust or
intake fans, but it has to be mounted on the exhaust side of the actual
fan. The cost is $7 USD.

The unit
is made of injection moulded plastic and
features 20mm honeycomb cells spread out over a surface of 100x100mm. The walls
of each cell are about 13mm high.

The top of the Nexus BeamAir
120mm unit (above).

The underside of the
Nexus BeamAir 120mm unit.

The plastic BeamAir adaptor is 22mm thick, but
only half of this is the actual airflow straightener. Fan screws are
used to attach the plastic adaptor to the rear of any 120mm fan that has screw
flanges. The screws are provided along with the adaptor.

Here is what the Nexus BeamAir does to airflow in a
simulated environment with smoke used as a visual indicator. We've seen aluminum honeycomb
used
in the past for this very same purpose, but that can be an expensive
route to follow.

There's no need to write pages and pages on such a
simple product for PC care. The Nexus BeamAir does what it says it will, and if your PC
could use an extra boost in hot air exhaust it may well be just what the doctor
ordered. Particularly as it enhances existing fans and
doesn't require a more powerful or faster spinning fan, so in that respect noise levels aren't changed.
While this is currently a stand alone product by Nexus, we'd
really like to see the honeycomb pattern integrated into more cases from
the outset.

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